Bells
by death-resurrected
Summary: In an alternate universe, where Rory DuGrey is the sister of Tristan DuGrey, their life is shattered when they learned of Rory’s adoption and that Lorelei, her biological mother, wants her back.
1. The Beginning

Disclaimer: I hate these things. I don't own ANYTHING, not even the clothes on my back. Just kidding. Anyway, story inspired by interesting foreign television. I do not own Gilmore Girls. **Bells**

**Pairing:**          R/T/J

**Plot:**                In an alternate universe, where Rory DuGrey is the sister of Tristan DuGrey, their life is shattered when they learned of Rory's adoption and that Lorelei, her biological mother, wants her back. Filled with grief, the DuGreys move to France. Ten years later, Tristan comes back…

**Characters: **

Rory DuGrey/Gilmore- beautiful adopted sister of Tristan who feels there is something more between her and her brother Tristan DuGrey- handsome brother of Rory, who also feels this "bond"; is NOT a playboy (anymore) p Carmen DuGrey- matriarch of family Edward DuGrey- patriarch of family; famous author and professor 

5. Lorelei Gilmore- biological mother of Rory, seeks her back

6. Kevin Gilmore- lowlife brother of Rory 

7. Christopher Hayden- deceased biological father of Rory, alcoholic 

8. Jess Mariano- rich playboy who falls hard for Rory 

9. Sarah Carmichel- fiancé of Tristan, unstable & diabetic 

10. Lane Kim- Rory's trusted friend 

(The Marianos are incredibly rich, the DuGreys are acceptably rich and the Gilmores are middle-class)

Ch. 1: The Beginning… 

            A pale woman with sallow skin lies on the hospital bed with crisp, white linen sheets. She is exhausted and has the right to be, for she just went through ten hours of heavy labor. A nurse is checking her vital signs and notices her patient struggling to say something. She bends down and listens.

            "My baby, where is she?" the woman murmurs quietly, weak with fatigue.

 "Oh, she's safe and sound in the neonatal unit upstairs, Ms. Gilmore," The nurse replied with a smile.

             "That's good. I just wanted to make sure she was okay," the woman whispers slowly. Just then, a lawyer appears in the hospital room, with papers and briefcase in hand. He walks slowly to the bed and starts to open his briefcase. He impatiently waves the nurse away as he takes out a pen and props the woman up.

            "Ms. Gilmore, I have come with some papers and the need for your signature," the man said slowly.

            "What are these for?"

            "Uh," he paused slightly, "insurance matters. I just need your signature here, here, and here." Lorelei tiredly signed the numerous pages, too tired to even look at the document. 

            After the signing was complete, the man pulled out his briefcase again and placed the papers in it, promptly leaving. 

            Meanwhile, outside waiting in the Hartford Community Hospital's clean halls, a couple was waiting quietly. He was a man in his late twenties and she was a woman in her mid twenties. They were dressed neatly, showing modestly that they had quite a bit of money. Their faces showed eagerness and they kept watching the door to their right. One look told everyone that they were anxious parents awaiting their child. Few knew that this was an adoption, though. 

            The man's name was Edward DuGrey and the woman's was Carmen. Hartford's Social Services Department had told them that there was a newborn baby waiting to be adopted at the hospital. It had been the young couple's dream to have two children, a boy and a girl, who would accompany each other through life's difficulties. They hoped that brother and sister would support each other. Sadly, though, after the difficult birth of their son, they found out that Carmen would no longer be able to have children. Because of this, they turned to adoption instead. They had already signed the papers, agreeing that they would take care of the baby and that if the biological parents wanted her back, they would have to give her back. They were here to take the baby girl, no, _their_ baby girl home.

            Once again, the couple peered to their right, and watched in excitement as it opened. They stood up, as fast as a hummingbird's wings could beat, and anxiously peered at the bundle in the nurse's arms. The nurse, smiling, deposited the bundle into Carmen's arms. 

            Carmen smiled, looking down at the angelic face in her arms. 

            "What's her name?" she asked.

            "Rory," replied the nurse.

            And as if hearing her name, the infant opened her sapphire eyes and smiled.

A/N: I promise it will get more exciting after this chapter. (I think this was the most boring one!)


	2. We Were Children

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Hope you enjoy the story.

Ch. 2: We Were Children 

            Time passed quickly. Soon the DuGreys were celebrating Rory's first birthday, then fifth, and then tenth. In what seemed like the time it takes for a clock to chime twice, twelve years had passed…

            A boy sat silently on a stool, his hand moving swiftly over the propped easel. The only noise is the scratching of charcoal over the white page. The only person in the room was the boy whose face was set in concentration. Sunlight drenched the windows laying gentle waves over the floor. The light was the golden color of the boy's tousled hair. The scene was serene.

            Suddenly, the serenity of the scene was shattered by light but sure footsteps dancing down the hall. A face peered in from the doorway, a face with petite features and framed by chocolate tresses. The large, starry sapphire eyes gazed at the boy, and the girl entered the room, her hands tucked behind her. She looked about twelve. 

            As she approached him, she slowly untucked her hands and brought out a lovingly wrapped package, giving it shyly to the boy. He looked at it for a while, then, with contempt on his face, threw it into the nearby garbage bin. After staring sternly at the girl for another moment and gathering his portfolio, he stormed out of the room. And all the while the girl's eyes followed him. 

            After standing where she stood for a few seconds, the girl noticed a pair of voices in the outside hallway. After another while, a pair of girls quietly came into the room.

            "Did you give it to him? What was his reaction? What did he say?" the pair urgently asked, words pouring out of their mouths at the speed of light. The girl looked at them with an uneasy light, and slowly lifted her outstretched finger, pointing it at the trash bin. The girls' eyes followed her finger, looking into the bin at their tenderly wrapped package. Then, with a flurry of tears and a heart-wrenching sob, the two girls ran out of the room.

            The girl left in the room quickly sprinted out and to the front door of the building. She cast open the doors, soaking in the bright sunlight. 

            "Brother!" she cried out at the boy who had stormed out earlier, "wait for me!" Then, she darted to the bike rack nearby in a hurried motion, and hopped on her bike. The boy was still pedaling hard on his bike, putting much distance between him and the girl. Angrily, the girl started pedaling hard, but unlike the boy, her bike staggered a few drunken steps and fell. 

            "Ahhhhhhhhhh!" she yelled as she landed on the pavement. The boy, hearing this noise, stopped, turned his head, and looked in horror. He paled and swiftly abandoned his bike and made his way to his sister.

            "Rory, are you alright? Where are you hurt?" he asked panicked, as he crouched down to examine the girl.

            "Here, on my knee," the girl replied, pointing at the dusty scratch on her kneecap.

            After investigating this cut, the boy said, "Aw, that's only a little scratch, no more than a paper cut. You can still get up on your bike and ride home."

            "No! It's more than a paper cut. See, it's a centimeter longer than a normal paper cut," the girl named Rory explained as she pouted her lips. "Besides, is that how you treat your sister on her birthday, Tristan? I want to sit on your bike home. I'm bound to fall off of mine again."

            The boy called Tristan shook his head slowly, and sighed to the Rory, "Oh, all right. It's your birthday after all. We can pick up the bike tomorrow." With that, he picked up Rory and put her on the back seat of his bike. Then, he pedaled slowly along the road home. 

            On the bike, they passed the dipping brooks and emerald meadows of their South Carolina countryside neighborhood. They passed the collection of broken down houses and businesses in the poverty stricken part of town. They passed the glittering ocean and beach, and made their way to the peaceful cottage-like house at the top of a hill. This was their house, the one they had lived in for eleven years.

            "Mom! Dad!" Tristan and Rory yelled as the entered the house, "we're home!"

            Their parents were nowhere to be seen. Tristan told Rory to go up to her room while he looked for their parents. He went looking in every room with no sign of his parents anywhere. Then, he heard murmurs coming from his father's study. He peered into the room, seeing his parents speaking with a woman. His father's face was stern, and his mother was in tears. 

            "I will not give my daughter to you!" his mother cried.

_What are they talking about? Rory is my only sister. What could this woman want with her?_ Tristan's face contorted with confusion as his thoughts perplexed him.

"You have to! It is my right as her biological mother!" the strange woman yelled back. 

            "No!" His mother gave a grief-stricken reply and sunk into the couch. His father enclosed her in his arms and told her quietly,

            "We must, love. It was stated in the legal papers."

            "No! We have influence in society, we can convince lawyers to argue for us, for our daughter!" 

            "No, even our influence cannot help us now."

            "If you are giving up so easily on Rory, then you do not deserve to be her father!"

            "I know. I know," his father said with sadness in his eyes, "but it is the law." Then, speaking to the strange woman, "If you would give us a little time with Rory, we'll give her to you, Lorelei Gilmore."

            The woman nodded and Tristan bolted from the door. He had finally grasped the situation. Rory was to be given away. Rory was going to leave. His little sister Rory…


	3. Always

Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls. :sigh: :rolls eyes: _I wish I did though_. Bells 

*Recap:

"I'll not give my daughter to you!"…

… "Give us one moment with Rory, will you, Lorelei Gilmore?"

Chapter 3: Always

**Tristan's POV**

_            I can't believe it. I won't believe it. Rory's my little sister, she won't leave. She can't leave! _ 

            I ran to my room, slamming the door. I wanted not to. I almost convinced myself that it was all a lie before I heard the footsteps of my parents outside. My parents walked into the room adjacent to mine, Rory's room. I could hear her gasp as she heard Mom and Dad entering her room. I could hear her say "Mom" when she realized that Mom was crying. I could hear our parents sit her down on her bed and tell her the story of her life. Over here on my bed, I could catch bits and pieces of their conversation.

            "You were adopted, Rory," I heard my father's deep, baritone voice. "Your biological mother has asked to get you back."

            I could imagine Rory's pained and surprised look in my mind. I could imagine all her pain and anguish as she found out she wasn't my real sister. I could feel her shattered heart because I felt the same feeling in mine. I could hear her cry out "You're lying!" and her pitter-patter of footsteps scrambling down the stairs and out the front door. I watched her run, trying to escape reality, and I started to run, too. 

**Rory's POV**

            _I couldn't believe my ears! How could I have been adopted? No, no, no. My parents were lying to me for the first time. They're lying! _

I could hear the words "Your lying!" escape my mouth and I began to run. I needed fresh air. I wanted to escape this lie. I would not believe it. I ran as hard as I could down the stairs and out the front door. I knew where I would run. The sky was covered with gray clouds and raindrops fell from the sky. 

_Is the sun crying for me? _

I arrived at the extended roof of the warehouse where my brother and I would always stay when it rained. It was a place to think. I ran under the roof, sitting, and let the tears I had held back fall.

Tristan's POV 

            I knew where she would be when she ran: the old factory with the extended roof. We always went there to escape the rain after school. It was raining now. The sky was mourning for her.

            When I arrived at the old factory, I saw her. She was under the extended roof, crouched in a fetal position. There was no sound except the drops of the rain plummeting to the earth. I walked under the roof, getting closer and closer to her.

            "So it's true, Tristan. We're not siblings after all." Her voice shattered the silence.

            "No…but that doesn't matter. I'll always be here for you. Always." I watched her as she slowly lifted her head, looking at me with those starry eyes.

            "Do you think we would still have met if I wasn't adopted?" she asked, voice quivering.

            "Of course! Fate would bring us together." I replied, watching her swallow and accept her situation. She was always so strong. "Let's go home."

            She slowly nodded her head and took my outstretched hand. Together, we went home to face a new and unfamiliar tomorrow.

***One day later***

**Tristan's POV**

            I spent today thinking about her through all my classes. Even though now she was with her birth mother, she had not transferred schools. Apparently Lorelei Gilmore had decided to stay nearby. I knew I would see her after class, because I had to seek her to tell her of my news. We were moving to France; Mother, Father, and I. They had decided it last night, after she left. Mom couldn't stand to be so near Rory and yet not be able to call her "daughter." Mother looked half crazed, wrinkles and gray hair suddenly appearing in a matter of one night.

            I waited for the last bell to ring and rushed to Rory's last class after it did. I looked around for her slim figure, but did not spot it. However, I did find one of her friends. 

            "Where's Rory?" I asked her frightened friend.

            "Rory? She was kind of spacing out in class today, so Ms. Maleski gave her a detention after school."

            "Oh." I said. I walked into the room, seeing her at the white board, covering it with the words "I will pay attention in class." She was almost finished. I walked up to her and gazed at her still form for a moment.

**Rory's POV**

            I knew that my brother, no, Tristan had come in the room and that he was standing beside me. He was the one who always knew my feelings, and me and always comforted me. I knew he was miserable and angry at the revelations of yesterday. I tried to be strong for him. I tried to put up my best façade and smile, but I couldn't. I tried so hard to hold back the tears, but now in the face of the one I love most, I couldn't. I let the tears fall. I could feel him sink into the depths of his misery as he watched me cry. 

            "Rory…" he started. I didn't want to talk to him. I was afraid that all my anguish would spill out uncontrollably if he did.

            "Don't talk to me! We're not even siblings anymore. There's no reason for you to talk to me!" I cried out. I saw his eyes widen at first and then brighten at an idea.

            "Let's pretend we're meeting for the first time," he said with a sad smile, "Hello there, my name is Tristan DuGrey and I'd like to become friends with you. By the way, did I mention how beautiful you were?" 

            A slow smile spread across my face and I watched one spread on his too. A sun burst through the stormy clouds. But then, he grew serious again and I knew something was wrong.

            "Rory…" he said, as if he didn't know how to tell me something.

            "What's wrong, Tristan?" I was confused and worried.

            "…We're moving to France." He cast his eyes down, not wanting to see my reaction.

            My breath froze in my throat and my heart stopped pounding for a second. I tried to absorb the information and say it was okay, but it wasn't. All I could muster out was an "oh." I did not want them to leave; I did not want to be left alone. Even though my birth mother had explained to me that she didn't know she had signed me away at birth, that she had disowned her family because of this, and of the hard struggle she had endured to find me, I still never considered her my mother. My only comfort was that I would still live nearby, still be able to see "Mom", "Dad", and "Brother" every day. But now that was gone. I was lost and lonely. 

            Tristan seemed to sense my loneliness and put his arms around me, trying to comfort me. I lifted my head to face him and asked, "Can we go to the beach?" The beach was a peaceful place, a place to think and also a place of great memories of the past. I just wanted to clear my head, and spend what could possibly be the last day of peace with the one I love most.

            He nodded his head and we walked.

**Tristan's POV**

            We arrived on the beach and I was overcome with the wonderful memories of the past. We had been so happy, laughing and playing tag as children. I wanted to enjoy what could possibly be the last day with her, so I took her hand and pulled her to the edge of the beach. We danced along the waves, on the line between wet water and dry sand. We laughed for the first time in the day, a moment of true elation. 

"What do you want to be in your next life?" I asked Rory. She tucked a strand of her russet hair behind her year and pondered for a moment before answering,

"A tree."

"A tree?" I was baffled at her answer.

"Yes, a tree. A tree has roots and never has to leave the ones it loves. I want to be a tree in my next life." I looked at her, and I understood. After fooling around for a few moments, I picked up a branch and began drawing. After all, I was an art major. I started etching in the sand, a large portrait. Rory looked at me, confused, and then at the drawing. 

            "What is it?" she asked. I just smiled and kept drawing.

            When I finished, she looked at the complete picture. I had drawn a picture of a sleeping girl, peaceful and carefree.

            "Who is it?" she queried.

            I replied, "You." She scrunched up her face, looked at me and exclaimed, 

            "Am I really that ugly?"

            I stared at her. I didn't think it was _that_ ugly.

            "You don't like it?" I inquired. She shook her head. "Then I'll give you something you would like." I took her hand and lead her over to where my backpack was. I leaned over and pulled a package out of my bag and gave it to her. She unwrapped it slowly and found two porcelain cups. On one was an etching of her face, and on the other was one of mine.

            "I meant to give it to you on your birthday, but I never got the chance. I think it's more appropriate now anyways." I explained, and saw her turn those cobalt eyes at me. "On one of them is you, on the other is me. I want you to keep them together, always, so that neither of them will ever be lonely." She looked at the two cups in her hands, then looked at me and smiled. She wrapped the cups again and put them in her backpack. When she turned her head to me again, her face was solemn. 

            "It's getting late. When should you be home?" she asked.

            "Not for another half hour," I replied after eying my watch. An uncomfortable silence grew then, until she asked me a question again.

            "Tristan, when are you leaving for France?" I couldn't answer that question. It was too soon and it would grieve her.

            "When are you coming back?" I couldn't answer that question either, for the same reason as the last.

            "Not for a long time, right?" she queried. She had guessed right. In fact, not even I knew when I would see her after today. Maybe never again.

            "Will you forget me?" She was on the verge of crying again. "I'm so afraid that you'll forget me."

            "Never." I said, looking her straight in the eyes. "I'll always remember you, because you're the best thing in my life." 

            She and I, reaching a mutual understanding, stayed on that beach for another half hour.  After what seemed like just a blink of the eye, it was time for us to part. We gazed at each other for a few seconds, and then, turning our heads, headed our different ways. For the first time in our lives, we were alone.

***A Day Later…***

**Rory's POV**

            When I got to school this morning, I looked around for Tristan at his locker. He always got to school before me, but for some reason, today he wasn't there. I waited there until homeroom began and then hurried back to my classroom, all the while wondering what happened to him. I listened to ten minutes of another group's gossip until the teacher cleared her throat and declared:

            "Oh yes, I almost forgot. Tristan DuGrey has transferred to France today. He will no longer be going to this school."

            The reality of her words hit me like a slap in the face and regardless of the consequences, I bolted out the door. When I arrived on the outside, I spotted the DuGrey car, rolling farther and farther away. Pulling air into my lungs, I started to run and tried to follow their car, hoping I would catch them.

To be continued…

A/N: Will Rory catch up with the DuGreys? Thanks for all your support, it's been my sustenance. For all your Jess lovers out there, R, T, &J will be appearing as adults soon!


	4. Author's Note

Hey everyone! No, this is not a chapter ^^;, but just a notice to say that I've decided to revamp everything; yes, everything. I've thought about how I was going to write this story, and let's just say the results were less than satisfactory. So.look for the new revamped story in the near future. Oh yeah, for those of you who liked this story line, go watch Korea drama, Endless Blue/ Autumn in My Heart. ^^; 


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